Tehran, Iran David E. Miller/The Media – A new religious opinion issued by Iran’s foremost Shiite cleric has pleased Sunni leaders throughout the Arab world.
Ayatollah ‘Ali Khamenei, Supreme Leader of Iran, issued a new fatwa on Oct. 2 forbidding the denigration of the Prophet Muhammad’s wife, ‘Aisha, or any other historic figurehead revered by Sunni Muslims.
“It is forbidden to insult the wives of the prophets and the wives of the greatest messenger, Muhammad, peace be upon him,” read Khamenei’s decree. The religious opinion was given following an appeal sent to Khamenei by a group of Sunni scholars.
Public denouncement of Prophet Muhammad’s wife ‘Aisha and his close circle of companions is commonly practiced in Shiite mosques, as they are viewed by Shiites as hostile to ‘Ali, Islam’s fourth caliph. Shiites consider ‘Ali and his close family to be the sole legitimate heirs to the Prophet Muhammad.
“Khamenei’s fatwa stems from true knowledge and a deep appreciation for the danger posed by the advocators of divisiveness to the unity of Muslims,” stated Egypt’s highest ranking religious scholar, Dr. Ahmad A-Tayyeb, sheik of the Al-Azhar mosque. “The fact that the edict was issued by a leading Muslim scholar and a Shiite figurehead serving as Iran’s supreme leader, only adds to its importance.”
The leader of Jordan’s Muslim Brotherhood, Sheik Hammam Sa’id, said that Khamenei’s opinion “was essential in uniting Muslims in opposition to their foremost enemy: the Zionist entity and those behind it.”
Professor Sajjad Rizvi, an expert on Iran at the University of Exeter, said that Khamenei’s decree was the response to a growing sense of isolation experienced by Iran.
“Iran needs some friends in the region,” he told The Media Line. “And they don’t have very many at the moment.”
Rizvi added that Iran’s overtures to the Sunni world are generally directed at Egypt, as religious and regional rifts with Saudi Arabia make rapprochement with it more difficult.
“Whenever the Iranians wanted to improve Sunni-Shiite relations they always turned to Egypt,” he said. “Dealing with it simply makes more sense.”
The timing of Khameini’s decree is closely linked to the hurtful statements made by Yasser Habeeb, a Kuwaiti Shiite cleric living in exile in London. Last month Habeeb harshly attacked ‘Aisha during a Ramadan ceremony.
“I suspect this is part of Iran’s response to the Habeeb scandal,” Rizvi said. “Many believe that Habeeb has badly damaged relations between Sunnis and Shiites.”
Khamenei recently claimed that western powers were trying to widen differences between Sunnis and Shiites in order to divert attention from the Palestinian issue.
“The enemies of Islam want to create discord among Muslims, so unity is the most important need of the Islamic world in the 21st century,” he was quoted by Teheran Times as saying.
Professor ‘Ali Ansari, an expert on Iran at Chatham House, a London-based think tank, speculated that regional politics could be at play as well.
“This may be an attempt to ease sectarian tensions in Lebanon,” he told The Media Line. “Iran is also trying to push the candidacy of Nuri Al-Maliki in Iraq, and this could make him more palatable to Sunnis there.”
Dr. Mehrdad Khonsari, a former Iranian diplomat, said that Iran was not interested in appeasing the Sunni Islamic world at large, but rather wished to maintain working relationships with Sunni organizations that cooperate with Iran, such as Hamas and the Taliban.
“This is merely lip service on the part of Khamenei,” he told The Media Line, “not much more than that.”
“By issuing such a decree, Iran is seeking to position itself better with elements they rely upon within the Sunni world to exert pressure on the West,” he added. “The goal is to defuse tension and create a better atmosphere.”
Khonsari said that such conciliatory declarations also allowed Sunni organizations to justify their ideologically problematic partnership with the Iranian regime.
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